Introducing Combined Effects of Filtering and ASE Noise in Optical Links Supposing Different Equalization Algorithms

Abstract

This paper develops and validates a discrete-time modeling framework for the joint impact of cascaded optical filtering, distributed ASE noise, and transceiver noise in coherent optical links. The work focuses on the post-equalization signal-to-noise ratio, which is the central quantity used to quantify filtering penalty under receiver DSP. Starting from an optical-link abstraction with arbitrary filter transfer functions and colored noise spectra, we derive analytical expressions for the matched-filter bound, Zero-Forcing Equalization, Minimum Mean Square Error Equalization, Fractionally Spaced Equalization, and finite-length equalizers with and without explicit colored-noise treatment. The model is coupled to a measurement-based transceiver SNR characterization, so that optical-link penalties and receiver impairments can be evaluated within the same formulation. Time-domain simulations with LMS equalization validate the analytical predictions over severe filtering conditions, different tap lengths, and different ASE-noise positions along the link. Experimental results with commercial transceivers and ROADMs further confirm the accuracy of the MMSE and FSE models, while highlighting the role of realistic filter modeling and equalizer implementation limits. The resulting framework provides a tractable basis for quality-of-transmission estimation and optical-network digital-twin implementations.